COURSE CURRICULUM

In this PhD pathway, students earn the Master of Arts (MA) degree “en route” to completing the doctoral program, meaning the master’s credential is integrated into the early stage of PhD training rather than pursued separately. The MA is awarded after students successfully complete 24 credit hours of graduate coursework, 6 credit hours of thesis research, and an approved and completed thesis document that demonstrates basic research competence in the field. This structure ensures that all doctoral students achieve a standardized level of methodological training and scholarly preparation before advancing to more specialized PhD-level work. The core curriculum emphasizes strong research and quantitative foundations through required courses in Advanced Statistics I (PY 602), Advanced Statistics II (PY 603), and Research Methods in Psychology (PY 607), which collectively develop essential skills in statistical reasoning, experimental design, and empirical analysis. In addition to these foundational requirements, students complete 9 credit hours of major course options selected from advanced graduate-level offerings (PY 500–698), allowing them to tailor their training to specific subfields while maintaining academic depth and flexibility. The MA also requires completion of 6 credit hours of thesis research (PY 599), culminating in an independent research project that must be formally approved, demonstrating the student’s ability to design, conduct, and report original scholarly work. The combination of coursework and thesis ensures that students not only gain theoretical and methodological expertise but also apply these skills in a structured research context. Overall, this en-route MA model functions as both a milestone and a training phase within the PhD program, confirming readiness for advanced doctoral research while providing a recognized graduate credential along the way.